Tape-dispensing mechanism



March 7, 1961 A. P. KRUEGER 2,973,890

TAPE-DISPENSING MECHANISM Filed May 1, 1959 IN VE NTOR ATTORNEY nit States TAPE-DISPEN SIN G NIECHANISM Filed May 1, 1959, Ser. No. 810,397

s Claims. 01. 225-43 This invention relates to a tape-dispensing mechanism for dispensing pressure-sensitive tape or tape which is tacky upon one side.

The device of the present application is one in which the tape is drawn from a supply roll by a feed roll structure to which the tacky side of the tape adheres. It is then stripped from the feed roll so that the end of the tape issues through an opening at the forward end of the device so that it can be severed by the operator grasping the free dispensed end of the tape and drawing it upwardly against a severing knife. The feed roller is operated by an oscillating lever, the range of movement of which may be varied so as to determine the length of tape which is dispensed at each stroke of the lever.

In devices of this type it is desirable that the feed mechanism be covered in some manner except that an opening must be provided through which the dispensed end of the tape issues to be accessible to the operator so that it may be grasped and severed. Also when a new roll of tape is placed in the device the free end of the tape must be drawn from the supply roll and trained or threaded over the feed roll. Therefore, it is desirable that the cover of the dispensing mechanism be removable so as to expose the feed roll in order that the free end of the tape may bereadily placed upon the latter so as to adhere thereto.

It is also desirable that this cover be permanently connected to the frame or casing of the device so that upon removal in order to replace an expended supply roll of tape it will not be lost. The present invention relates particularly to the cover for the feeding mechanism and comprises a sheet metal structure extending between the two opposite side walls of the frame or case and is hinged at its lower end to the case so that it may be swung forwardly and downwardly to expose the feeding mechanism.

Also in the present instance the severing means or knife against which the tape is drawn to be. severed' is formed integrally with this cover and the latter is so constructed that it providesan opening at the front end of the case through which the tape may issue. At the rear end of the cover is provided means which will cooperate with means upon the case of the device to releasably secure the cover in its operative position during tape-feeding operations.

One object of the invention is to provide anew and improved tape-dispensing mechanism for dispensing pressure-sensitive tape. 1

A further object of the invention is to provide a tapedispensing mechanism having a casing which supports, at its forward end, a tape-feeding means and a cover for such means hinged at its forward end to the casing and removably engaged at its rear end with the casing so that it will be normally releasably held in place but may be swung downwardly about its hinged connection with the casing to expose the feeding mechanism.

A further object of the invention is to provide a tapedispensing mechanism of the character described wherein atent ice . the device;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view on line 3--3 of Fig. 1; and 'Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the hinged cover. To illustrate one embodiment of the invention there is shown in the drawings a tape dispenser comprising a casing consisting of upright substantiallyparallel. side walls 10 and 11 which rest upon base flanges 12 and 13, the two sections of the casing being joined together along the line 14 (Fig. 2). At the upper edges of the side walls are provided flanges 15 and 16, the opposing edges of which are spaced apart to receive a spool 17 which carries a supply roll of tape 18. The spool 17 is provided with a spindle 19 which is received in slots 20 in the side walls of the casing and rests upon the bottoms of these slots.

At the forward end of the casing is a feed roll 21 and a stripper roll 22. Each of these rolls consists of a plurality of spaced disks notched or knurled upon their peripheral edges, as shown, and it may also be noted that the disks of the stripper roll 22 extend between and in overlapping relation with the disks of the feed roll, as is usual.

The feed roll is secured upon a shaft 23 and upon this shaft is. secured a gear 24 which meshes with a gear 25, the latter in turn meshing with a relatively large gear 26. The shaft 23 of the feed roll'is rotatably mounted in the side walls of the casing and the gear 25 is also rotatably mounted on a stub shaft 27 mounted in one of the casing walls.

A shaft 28 is rotatably mounted in the casing walls and to this shaft is secured an operating lever 29. The gear 26 is rotatably mounted upon the shaft 28 and is adapted to be clutched thereto by a one-way clutch mechanism 30 so that operation of the lever 29 in a clockwise direction, as'shown in Fig. 3, will rotate the gear 26 in the same direction. A spring 31 connected to a part ofthe clutch mechanism will return it and the lever 29 to its normal rest position, shown in Fig. 3, when released.

-A stop 32 is provided to limit the movement of the actuating lever 29 in a counterclockwise direction and an adjustable stop 33is provided to limit the movement of the lever in a clockwise direction so as to enable the device to serve a definite but variable length of tape according to the position of the stop 33 in the slot 34 provided in the casing. The construction of the lever 29 and associated parts including the clutch 30 and the stops 32 and 33 is of usual form and not a part of the present invention.

The stripper roll 22 is secured to a shaft 35 also rotatably mount'ed in the casing walls and to this shaft is secured a gear 36 which also meshes with the gear 25 driven by the lever 29. The gearing is so arranged that upper generally horizontally extending part 39 and a downwardly extending portion 40. Projecting downwarclly from the latter are spaced legs 41 and 42 leaving an opening 43 therebetween through which the tape issues as will be hereinafter explained. The lower end portion of each of the legs is turned upon itself to provide eyes 44 and 45 which receive pins 46 secured upon the side walls of the casing so as to hinge the cover thereto.

Above the opening 43 the edge of the cover between the legs 41 and 42 is serrated as shown at 47 to provide a severing edge against which the tape may be drawn to be severed, this edge being formed integrally with the cover. The rear edge of the portion 39 of the cover is turned downwardly to provide the flange 48 so that when the cover is in the closed position, as shown in Fig. 3, this flange may engage rearwardly of the flanges 49 and 50 provided on the side walls 10 and 11 respectively. These flanges 49 and 50 are formed integrally with the flanges 15 and 16 but are depressed slightly below the level of the latter so that when the cover is in closed position its upper surface will be substantially flush with the upper surface of the flanges 15 and 16.

It may be noted that the flanges 15 and 16 are cut back slightly, as shown at 51 and 52, so as to permit the flange 48 to enter the space rearwardly of the flanges 49 and 50 and be engaged therewith. It will be understood that the cover is of sheet metal and sufiiciently resilient so that it may be sprung slightly to snap behind and engage rearwardly of the edges of the flanges 4% and t) and by its resilience releasably hold the cover in this position.

When it is desired to place a new supply roll of tape in the machine, the lip 48 of the cover may be readily disengaged from the flanges 49 and 50 and the cover swung down about the pins 46 from the full-line to the dottedline position shown in Fig. 3. This exposes the surfaces of the feed roll 21 and also the stripper roll 22 so that the tape, as shown at 53, may be drawn from the supply roll and trained about the feed roll so as to be adhesively engaged therewith.

As shown more especially in Fig. 3, the stripper roll 22 lies opposite, and its periphery projects into, the opening 43 so that when the tape is stripped from the feed roll 21 it will be directed outwardly through this opening away from the machine. Therefore, it is only necessary to lay the free end of the tape on the feed roll to a sufficient extent to permit the latter to draw the tape from the supply roll and then return the cover to full-line position. Thereafter, actuation of the feed and stripper rolls will dispense the tape through the opening 43.

When the tape is engaged with the feed roll and the cover in the full-line position shown in Fig. 3, the lever 29 may be moved in a clockwise direction which will cause the tape to be drawn from the supply roll and fed outwardly through the opening 43 below the severing member 47, as shown at 53*. When the lever 29 strikes the stop 33 and is released by the operator, it will be returned to its original position without, however, moving the gear 26 or the feed rolls in a reverse direction. The end 53 of the tape is then grasped by the operator and moved upwardly, as shown at 53 to be severed against the severing member 47.

While I have shown and described one embodiment of my invention, it will be understood that it is not to be limited to all of the details shown, but is capable of modification and variation within the spirit of the invention and within the scope of the claims.

What I claim is:

1. A tape-dispensing mechanism comprising a casing and tape-feeding means carried thereby adjacent the forward end thereof, said casing having side walls providing an opening therebetween adjacent the feeding mechanism, a cover disposed between said walls and hinged thereto adjacent the lower portion of said opening, said cover having a first portion lying above the feeding mechanism and a second portion in front thereof, said second portion having spaced leg members extending downwardly therefrom to provide an opening therebetween through which the tape issues and a severing member formed integrally with the cover and constituting the upper edge of said opening, said tape-feeding means comprising a rotatable feed roll and a rotatable stripper roll, and said stripper roll being disposed opposite said opening in the cover to direct the tape therethrough.

2. A tape-dispensing mechanism comprising a casing and tape-feeding means carried thereby adjacent the forward end thereof, said casing having side walls providing an opening therebetween adjacent the feeding mechanism, a cover disposed between said walls, said cover having a first portion lying above the feeding mechanism and a second portion angularly related to said first portion in front of the feeding mechanism, said second portion having spaced leg members extending downwardly there from to provide an opening therebetween through which the tape issues, a severing member formed integrally with the cover and constituting the upper edge of said opening, the lower ends of said legs being pivotally connected to the walls of the casing, said tape-feeding means comprising a rotatable feed roll and a rotatable stripper roll, and said stripper roll being disposed opposite said opening in the cover to direct the tape therethrough.

3. A tape-dispensing mechanism comprising a casing and tape-feeding means carried thereby adjacent the forward end thereof, said casing having side walls providing an opening therebetween adjacent the feeding mechanism, a cover disposed between said walls and hinged thereto adjacent the lower portion of said opening, said cover having a first portion lying above the feeding mechanism and a second portion in front thereof, said second portion having an opening therein through which the tape issues and an integrally formed severing member at the upper edge of said opening, interengaging means on the casing and the first portion of the cover to releasably hold the latter in position to cover the feeding means, said tapefeeding means comprising a rotatable tape-feed roll and a rotatable stripper roll to strip the tape from the feed roll, and said stripper roll being disposed in the casing opposite said opening in the cover and projecting into said opening to direct the tape therethrough and away from the mechanism.

4. A tape-dispensing mechanism comprising a casing and tape-feeding means carried thereby adjacent the forward end thereof, said casing having side walls providing an opening therebetween adjacent the feeding mechanism, a cover disposed between said walls and hinged thereto adjacent the lower portion of said opening, said cover having a first portion lying above the feeding mechanism and a second portion in front thereof, said second portion having an opening therein through which the tape issues and an integrally formed severing member at the upper edge of said opening, the first portion of the cover having a downwardly projecting lip adjacent its rear edge and projections on the casing walls behind which said lip engages to hold the cover in position to cover the feeding means, said tape-feeding means comprising a rotatable feed roll and a rotatable stripper roll, and said stripper roll being disposed opposite said opening in the cover to direct the tape therethrough.

5. A tape-dispensing mechanism comprising a casing and tape-feeding means carried thereby adjacent the forward end thereof, said casing having side walls providing an opening therebetween adjacent the feeding mechanism, a cover disposed between said walls and hinged thereto adjacent the lower portion of said opening, said cover having a first portion lying above the feeding meehanism and a second portion in front thereof, said second portion having an opening therein through which the tape issues and an integrally formed severing member at the upper edge of said opening, said cover being wi en n,

formed of resilient material and the first portion thereof having a downwardly extending lip at its rear end, projections formed on the casing walls and engaged by said lip under spring action of the cover to hold the latter in position to cover the feeding means, said tape-feeding means comprising a rotatable tape-feed roll and a rotatable stripper roll to strip the tape from the feed roll. and said stripper roll being disposed in the casing opposite said opening in the cover and projecting into said opening to direct the tape therethrough and away from the mechanism.

6. A tape-dispensing mechanism comprising a casing and tape-feeding means carried thereby adjacent the,

forward end thereof, said casing having side walls providing an opening therebetween adjacent the feeding mechanism, acover disposed between said walls, said cover being of resilient material and of angular form and comprising a first portion overlying the feeding means and extending rearwardly therefrom and a' second portion extending downwardly from the front edge of the feeding means, said second portion comprising spaced leg members, one disposed adjacent each wall of the casing to provide an opening therebetween through which i the tape issues, an integrally formed severing member on the cover constituting the upper edge of said opening, said side walls being provided with inwardly extending flanges upon which the first portion of the cover rests and said portion being provided with a downwardly extending lip adjacent its rear end to snap behind the rear edges of said flanges.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

